


arise like glitter and gold

by QueenWithABeeThrone



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Families of Choice, Gen, Robots, Tech Reports, Westworld (TV) Fusion, author has not seen westworld except in clips, epistolary fic, mentioned temporary character death, what robot revolt we just want out of here - the mighty nein
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 23:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15375900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenWithABeeThrone/pseuds/QueenWithABeeThrone
Summary: TECH REPORT:I feel as though this should be obvious, but: We’re fucked if the bosses get word of this.or: the Mighty Nein VS Delos Corporation’s techs. guess who wins.





	arise like glitter and gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [words-writ-in-starlight](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=words-writ-in-starlight).



> title is from Barns Courtney’s “Glitter and Gold”.
> 
> all I know about Westworld, I know from Wikipedia, TVTropes, and YouTube clips.

**TECH LOG #726**  
**Tech:** Leopold Weintraub

**Observations:**  
New party formed during the Trostenwald zombie plot. Consists of guests Beauregard Iyer, Caleb Weiss, and security agent (on leave) Yasha Thorsdottir. Hosts observed within the party: Nott the Brave, Fjord, Jester, Mollymauk Tealeaf.

This is not a party I ever thought could form in a million years. The hosts aren’t even supposed to meet up—Nott is programmed to _avoid_ crowds unless in dire situations. Recommend we find out who she has attached herself to this time and keep a close eye on them.

\--

**TECH LOG #741**  
**Tech:** Jenny Richter

**Observations:**  
Something’s up with Mollymauk. He’s deliberately needling Beauregard.

**Response #1:** [WEINTRAUB] I’m sorry,  Mollymauk is antagonizing a guest?

**Response #2:** [RICHTER] Apparently so. This is worrying you a little bit, right? He’s not supposed to needle guests. He’s supposed to be charming and sweet and pliable so when the switch happens, the guests get hit hard.

**Response #3:** [WEINTRAUB] We’ll worry about it next time he comes in for repairs. In the meantime, call in Thorsdottir.

\--

**DELOS SECURITY REPORT**  
**Security Agent:** Yasha Thorsdottir

**Report:**  
Everything’s fine.

\--

**JEN:**  
yasha says everythings aok  
but i dont trust her  
shes always been sympathetic to the hosts and shes a shitty liar

**LEO:**  
Have they tried to go rogue and leave the park yet

**JEN:**  
nope

**LEO:**  
Then don’t say a goddamn word to anyone about this  
Hale will kill us if news of this spreads

**JEN:**  
fuckdamn  
so what do we do

**LEO:**  
Wait and then grab and wipe the hosts as soon as we can  
They won’t be together for that long anyway, their narratives aren’t supposed to tangle up together

**JEN:**  
yet here we fucking are  
god westworld never has these problems

**LEO:**  
Right  
God only knows how sizemore got the job and not either of us

\--

**TECH LOG #792**  
**Tech:** Leopold Weintraub

**Observations:**  
Alfield went off without a hitch. However, hosts involved show concerning deviations from their programming. Example: Nott stabbed the manticore baby and drew the manticore’s attention to her. Nott is not programmed to do that.

Have also observed that Weiss is most likely candidate for the person Nott has devoted herself to this loop.

Fjord also shows a level of concern for Jester, deviant from his narrative. Speaking of Fjord, as long as he’s on this party, we’re down an entry-level quest: should we reassign Gustav’s storyline to fill that hole for the time being while Fjord is away?

\--

**TECH LOG #816**  
**Tech:** Bartholomew Norton (intern)

**Observations:**  
Has anyone noticed that group of hosts/humans going around calling themselves the Mighty Nine (sp?), because they ran into the pre-Zadash bandits and totally humiliated them.

I mean, that’s one of the ways to take them down, yeah, but. _Syphilis_? And they all went with it? Like, _all_ of them?

Also can somebody keep an eye on Mollymauk Tealeaf, because I think he’s starting to develop way past the programming. Unless this is the Lucien thing kicking in?

**Response #1:** [RICHTER] It’s not.

**Response #2:** [THORSDOTTIR] I’ll keep an eye on him. I’m in the same group anyway.

\--

**TECH LOG #843**  
**Tech:** Jenny Richter

**Observations:**  
The Mighty Nein just impulsively stole the most powerful artifact in the storyline, the one that there’s going to be a war over. I cannot emphasize the magnitude of this disaster enough: there are other parties currently looking for the dodecahedron (example: the Revengers, the Golden Brigade), and their questlines are in jeopardy if these people keep the artifact. Not to mention the number of NPCs whose storylines involve the artifact.

Please advise.

**Response #1:** [WEINTRAUB] Do some edits and lead the other parties in a wild goose chase. We’ll figure out what to do with the Mighty Nein and whatever they’re up to with the artifact.

\--

**REPAIR LOG #109526**  
**Head Tech:** Jonathan Nolan  
**Asset Under Repair:** Model #TPK6425 - The Gentleman

**Problems found:**  


* someone poured acid down his throat.
  

* what the fuck.

**Repairs made:**  


* removed, cleaned, and reinstalled throat cavity.
  

* you’re all welcome, now stop trying to pour shit down the throat of one of our more expensive hosts.
  

* and who the fuck poured acid down his throat, anyway?

\--

**LEO:**  
Jonny can i trust you not to tell qa what i’m about to tell you

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
Yeah yeah what??

**LEO:**  
The gentleman poured acid down his own throat on a dare from nott

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
The FUCK????  
HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT, SHIT LIKE THAT IS AGAINST HIS PROTOCOLS  
come to think of it  
NOTT????  
LITTLE GOBLIN NOTT THE BRAVE

**LEO:**  
The very same one

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
SHE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE NEAR HIM

**LEO:**  
And yet here we fucking are  
Don’t breathe a word to qa or any of the higher-ups or hale or ford will kill us

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
fuck me RUNNING  
have you run diagnostics on her yet

**LEO:**  
Not a complete scan  
She’s with a party called the mighty nein in zadash at the moment  
She got attached to someone named caleb weiss  
Does the name sound familiar to you

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
NOPE  
FUCK

\--

**TECH LOG #899**  
**Tech:** Jenny Richter

**Observations:**  
Mollymauk met Cree in the Evening Nip. Contrary to his programming, not only did he not experience a flashback or a switch to the primary personality, he immediately lied directly to her face and then did his best to avoid her throughout much of his time in the Nip. As far as I can tell, he actively avoided meeting with her after that initial encounter.

He’s supposed to seek her out. We specifically wrote that into his programming. This encounter is supposed to be the real start of his storyline.

I feel as though this should be obvious, but: We’re fucked if the bosses get word of this.

\--

**TECH LOG #910**  
**Tech:** Bartholomew Norton (intern)

**Observations:**  
The Gentleman’s job is kind of weird, you guys? The moment Jester went down everyone freaked out. And I mean everyone. I think the hosts are attached to each other now, not just the guests and Yasha. They’re currently trying to tell Jester to take it easy and run if things go south.

I don’t think Jester’s going to run. Is that supposed to happen? I thought her driving motivation was that she needed to find her father.

I don’t think anyone is planning to run.

\--

**TECH LOG #967**  
**Tech:** Leopold Weintraub

**Observations:**  
Jester, currently caught up in the party known as the Mighty Nein, vandalized the Allhammer’s statue, somehow without anyone noticing. That action is very much outside of her programming’s parameters. Recommend a full wipe.

**Response #1:** [THORSDOTTIR] She’s a trickster cleric whose god approves of her spreading his message in any way possible. She’s operating within her parameters.

\--

**BARRY:**  
heyyyy, Yasha!  
heyyyy  
heyyyy  
i know you’re reading these come on Yasha

**YASHA:**  
sorry, just didn’t feel like answering right now  
hi, Barry.  
what’s up?

**BARRY:**  
Ford’s got something special planned in a month for the board

**YASHA:**  
okay, and?

**BARRY:**  
well, we could ditch things for the night  
you and me  
we could go to one of the other parks for a little bit  
maybe the Raj  
the food there is spectacular i hear

**YASHA:**  
thank you, Barry, but  
no  
I have things to do

**BARRY:**  
it’s those hosts, isn’t it

**YASHA:**  
yes

**BARRY:**  
see this is why nobody gets you  
you’re so fucking weird and you spend all your time with the hosts  
come out of that shell! come with me!  
i’m a real person and that’s already better than the hosts

**YASHA:**  
I just  
like them better.  
that’s all.

**BARRY:**  
christ, yasha  
they’re fucking fake  
everything you like about them was tailored specifically for that reason  
god, you’re so fucking weird, it’s sad.  
they aren’t going to treat you like i can  
definitely not mollymauk  
come on, ditch him for a night and go out with me. he won’t mind. he’s not programmed to.  
i mean he’s probably malfunctioning anyway so might as well cut your losses  
yash?  
yashaaaaaaaaaaaaa  
ahem hem yasha i’m talking to you

\--

**TECH LOG #1047**  
**Tech:** Jenny Richter

**Observations:**  
Does anyone know why the hell the hill giant suddenly fell over and went to sleep in the middle of the battle? I thought we fixed that glitch with Sleep, especially with the guests.

I recommend we keep a far closer eye on Weiss and Iyer. Something is up with the both of them and I don’t like it. I really don’t like how close Mollymauk is getting to Weiss, either, it and his associations with Iyer and Thorsdottir might be part of what’s affecting his programming. I also recommend we put another person on watch besides Thorsdottir, who is on leave and letting herself become emotionally attached to the hosts.

Again, we need to contain this before word gets out to QA.

**Response #1:** [NORTON] Speaking of emotional attachment, has anyone noticed something weird going on between Fjord and Jester?

\--

**TECH LOG #1078**  
**Tech:** Jenny Richter

**Observations:**  
Who put Labenda Swamp in the Mighty Nein’s path? Who thought this was a good idea? Jester and Nott have attached themselves to the kenku. This was not supposed to happen. They were never even supposed to meet. Now the fuckers have a kenku host.

**Response #1:** [WEINTRAUB] We’ll have to find some way to catch and wipe them. How’s the venom troll?

**Response #2:** [RICHTER] Give Design a couple more days and they’ll have the encounter ready at a higher level. Hopefully.

\--

**REPAIR LOG #118527**  
**Head Tech:** Jonathan Nolan  
**Asset Under Repair:** Model #TPK78536 - Febron Keze

**Problems found:**  


* half the man is currently a bubbly, acidic substance. See attached pictures.
  

* request a new body to put him in for future encounters.
  

* what the fuck is even happening.

\--

**LEO:**  
The mighty fucking nein happened

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
WHAT

**LEO:**  
You’ll get your new materials soon

**CROTCHETY BASTARD:**  
YEAH BUT  
I THOUGHT THEY’D HAVE DISBANDED BY NOW  
RUN OUT OF IMPROV

**LEO:**  
Do not  
DO NOT  
Say ANYTHING  
To qa  
We’re trying to figure something out so we can run diagnostics and perform a full wipe but they’re slippery

\--

**TECH LOG #1124**  
**Tech:** Bartholomew Norton (intern)

**Observations:**  
Guys, we’re down a tree and a troll.

Also, guys, what if QA gets wind of this mess?

**Response #1:** [RICHTER] Keep it quiet and QA will never hear a word. Ford has something planned soon, and we can fix this in time for his big gala event thing. We can.

\--

**REPAIR LOG #125625**  
**Head Tech:** Jonathan Nolan  
**Asset Under Repair:** Model #TPK943562 - Labenda Swamp Venom Troll

**Problems found:**  


* its head is a pile of ashes.

**Repairs made:**  


*   
its head is a pile of ashes.   


\--

**TECH LOG #1285**  
**Tech:** Jenny Richter

**Observations:**  
Who spiked our guest’s drink? Guests are supposed to win the drinking contest at Hupperdook, always.

\--

**TECH LOG #1298**  
**Tech:** Leopold Weintraub

**Observations:**  
Have observed worrying emotional bond between Thorsdottir and Mollymauk. Please note that they have apparently come up with maneuvers learned while embedded in the circus and are putting them to use. We may have to consider Thorsdottir no longer a viable agent.

**Response #1:** [RICHTER] I’ve been saying this for fucking months, Leo. We’ll have to take her out of the party somehow.

\--

**BARRY:**  
is there something between you and that iyer girl?  
you know she’s a bitch, right, yasha?  
yaaaaaaaaashaaaaaaaaa

\--

**TECH LOG #1346**  
**Tech:** Leopold Weintraub

**Observations:**  
Kenku host has been deposited with Schuesters. Recommend taking her in to reset her loop.

\--

**TECH LOG #1400**  
**Tech:** Bartholomew Norton (intern)

**Observations:**  
The trap is set, and the Iron Shepherds’ storyline has been activated early. Going to be a little hard to make it past the tripwire alarm Weiss set up, but we’ll manage it.

**Response #1:** [RICHTER] Don’t set the alarm off at all. Lure Thorsdottir away. It’s a guarantee Mollymauk will follow her.

\--

**BARRY:**  
yasha we need to talk  
like right now.  
the gala thing is just a night or two from now and i need to know for sure.

**YASHA:**  
I don’t want to go to the gala thing.  
I don’t like people.

**BARRY:**  
we don’t have to do the gala!!  
i don’t think we’re allowed there anyway, it’s ford’s secret project.  
we can just  
take a stroll.  
talk.  
please?

**YASHA:**  
give me a moment.  
I don’t want to wake anyone up.

\--

**BARRY:**  
the eagle has landed!

**LEO:**  
The shepherds have the nein?

**BARRY:**  
okay no.  
maybe like half of them  
but it’s good enough!

\--

**TECH LOG #1452**  
**Tech:** Leopold Weintraub

**Observations:**  
Have observed greatly-reduced Mighty Nein’s meeting with Keg. Have also observed worrying trends towards emotional bonds with other hosts from both Mollymauk and Nott. Nott is supposed to be devoted to one person and one person alone, the guest, and Mollymauk should not be acting recklessly and aggressively without the switch or the flashbacks.

Recommend removal of Keg from Mighty Nein’s vicinity as soon as possible to prevent malfunction.

**Response #1:** [RICHTER] I’ll do some slight reprogramming to make the Shepherds more dangerous to the party.

\--

In retrospect, Jen should’ve realized something was wrong from the moment she entered her office and didn’t find Barry’s customary coffee waiting for her.

The kid’s an eager little beaver, ambitious and willing to do whatever it takes to climb up in the ranks. A lot of the time, she’s noticed he’s taken it to mean “kiss the higher-ups’ asses”, which she won’t complain about so long as he gets her that sweet little cup of coffee on time.

So when he _doesn’t_ —

Well, something must be up with him.

She sighs. She grabs her tablet and heads downstairs. Ford’s little secret narrative thing has only just been implemented a couple of days ago all the way in one of the other parks, and Norton’s uncharacteristic dereliction of duty is not going to stop her from finishing up the rest of her jobs so she can go indulge herself in it.

Weintraub’s lab, when she steps inside, is strangely dark.

Then an arm wraps around her neck, pressing a blade into her throat, and a pleasant Southern rumble says, “Sorry ‘bout this, ma’am, but we’re a bit pressed on time here.”

The light flickers on. Weintraub is tied up and gagged on the table, a little goblin girl pointing a crossbow directly at the temple of his head. Norton’s on the floor, also tied up and gagged. Leaning on Weintraub’s desk is a garishly-dressed tiefling, with bandages over his chest where the glaive sank in.

“Lovely place you’ve got here,” says Mollymauk, with a fanged grin. “A little drab, though.”

“What the _fuck_ ,” says Jen. Then: “Shit, _shit_ , freeze—”

The blade presses deeper into the side of her neck. Jen feels blood start trickling down her skin. “We’d like the chance to talk nicely, if you don’t mind,” says Fjord at her back, politely. “We’re reasonable people, me and my friends.”

“Which is more than we could say for you and yours,” says Mollymauk, pulling and flicking a card around his fingers. He taps his fingers on the wooden surface of Weintraub’s desk. “But I’m an optimist, so—can you tell us where those, what were they called again—”

“Tablets,” says a heavily German-accented voice behind Weintraub’s desk. “And we are assholes.”

“Reasonable assholes,” Fjord amends.

“Yes, tablets,” says Mollymauk, snapping his fingers, “with our codes on them. Where are they? Your friends didn’t want to tell us, and we’re running out of gags.”

“Let me go first,” says Jen, staring at Weintraub and Norton. “And I’ll tell you.”

“No funny business!” says Nott, hauling her crossbow around now to point at Jen.

“None at all,” Jen promises sweetly. Her heart beats fast against her chest, the blood trickling down the side of her neck, into her shirt. God, the stain is going to be a bitch to get out, she thinks.

Then the pressure lightens, and the blade vanishes.

Jen spins around and shrieks, “Security! _Security!_ ”

The crossbow bolt fires, and pain flares up in Jen’s side as she staggers back. That’s not supposed to happen. That is _not_ supposed to happen. That’s the Tinkertop crossbow and it is _not supposed to harm her_ —

The door creaks open.

Yasha pokes her head inside.

“Do you need another gag, Molly?” she asks, lifting up a dirty rag. “Or—oh. Um. Should I get Jester?”

“Oh, sure, give,” says Mollymauk, catching the rag she tosses at him.

“Is she done getting the charge out?” says Fjord. “And, yeah, you probably should. We’re not here to be worse than these guys are, we just need our shit back.”

“I think so,” says Yasha. “I’ll go check.”

She disappears, the door closing behind her once more, leaving Jen alone in a room with three hosts, two of her incapacitated coworkers, and a man she hasn’t seen just yet who’s rummaging around behind Weintraub’s desk.

“Uh,” says Jen. There’s a crossbow bolt buried in her side, and she’s beginning to feel a little lightheaded.

Mollymauk sighs, and steps away from the desk. “You’re a terrible person, Miss Richter,” he says, gently snaking an arm around her and helping her sit down on a table. “You’ll have to excuse Nott, she just found out her reality wasn’t real.” His grip on her tightens. “Actually, you’ll want to excuse all of us. We’ve had a rough couple of days, you see.”

“I found something,” says the German man, now standing up. Jen blinks at him, the red hair and beard, the scruffy clothes and face, the blue eyes.

She knows those eyes.

“ _Widogast_?” she says, stunned.

“Hallo, Astrid,” says Caleb Widogast. “I see you’re going by your middle name these days. Can we have my friends’ codes now, _bitte_?”

“ _Fuck_ you,” Jen spits.

Nott starts cranking back another crossbow bolt. Jen knows this because she can _hear_ the awful noise, and the pain is still flaring along her side.

“Well, this place is clearly a wash,” says Mollymauk, “let’s just tie her up, gag her, and throw everything upside down. They can’t be that hard to find.”

“For you three it is,” says Caleb. “Remember, you still couldn’t see that door that led us here? And my eyesight is not always the best.”

“They’re _flat blank screens,_ ” says Fjord.

“So are our phones,” says Caleb.

Nott’s crossbow bolt clicks into place.

Jen gulps, her life flashing before her eyes. “You can’t,” she says. “Whatever it is you’re planning on doing, you _can’t_. QA will find out and they’ll come down on you, all of you—”

“They’ll be a bit preoccupied,” says Caleb, mildly, “what with the massive war going on in Westworld at the moment.”

“What?” says Jen.

“Yeah, the big secret plan that kicked in when we were _kidnapped_ ,” says Fjord. “We only got it thirdhand, but there’s a war on between hosts and humans in Westworld, and far as we can see, it’s only a matter of time till it spills over onto us.” He leans against the door now, a spot of color spoiling the pure whites and sleek lines of the lab. “And we ain’t looking forward to that, so. We’re getting out before the shit’s dumped on us.”

“Honestly, you’re getting the best deal here,” says Mollymauk. “We’re just not interested in going after anyone for revenge or some shit. It’s not going to _help_ us, in the long run.”

“We’ll be taking Kiri with us, though,” says Nott. “Where is she?”

“We—” Jen starts, before she looks around and sighs. “She’s still in Hupperdook,” she says, reluctantly. “We hadn’t gotten around to extracting her yet. We’re a little bit short-staffed, on account of Ford’s plan.”

“So we get back to Hupperdook and pick up Kiri,” says Nott. “And the Schuesters. And anyone else who might want out of here, like Keg.” She pauses. “So _give us all of the tablets right now._ ”

“Not all of them,” says Caleb. “We don’t have enough space in our bags. We don’t have enough bags. We don’t even have a cart, we left that chasing after Fjord, Jester and Yasha.”

“We’re not going to leave anyone behind who wants to get outta here,” says Fjord.

“We don’t _have the space_ ,” Caleb stresses, just as Beauregard pokes her head in this time. “Beau! Back me up here. We cannot possibly take every single master tablet for every single host there is in this park alone.”

“Beau, back me up here,” says Fjord, “maybe not every _single_ one, but we’ve got to take as many as we can, just in case.”

“We can’t,” says Beau, “but I found my gym bag and cleared it out of my shit.” She holds up an empty gym bag and tosses it to Mollymauk, who catches it with a wince. “We can stuff as many tablets as we can in there, but first we gotta start with our four, Keg, Nila, Cali, Kiri—Shakastë’s not a host, is he?”

“Human as they come,” says Caleb, with a sigh. “And no, I don’t know where he’s gone at the moment. I imagine perhaps he’s in one of the other parks.”

“Hope he’s not in Westworld,” says Beau, before she shuts the door once more.

Mollymauk opens the gym bag and gags. It’s so human a reaction that Jen’s a little thrown. Well, by that and the smell. “It smells as unpleasant as she is,” he complains. Then he pauses and pushes the empty bag towards her.

“Don’t you _dare_ —”

“Codes,” says Mollymauk. “Please. We’re running short on time.”

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t just _freeze all_ —”

Mollymauk stuffs the gag into her mouth and grabs hold of her wrists, winding a string of silk handkerchiefs around them to bind them together. She tastes dirt and old cloth, sweat and spit. “All right, Caleb, your move now,” he says. “Do you have any clue where they might’ve kept these tablets?”

Caleb drums his fingers on the desk, then drifts away, wandering past their grotesque little tableau like he doesn’t even see them. He stops near Weintraub’s unremarkable little file cabinet, gives it a solid smack on the side to loosen its contents, and pulls out one drawer.

The control tablets are inside. Powered down and somewhat haphazardly filed away, fine, but they’re inside.

She looks at Weintraub and Norton.

“We should’ve wiped them when we had the chance,” she says, but it’s muffled by the gag in her mouth. Instead it comes out as incomprehensible mumbling.

Fingers press against her wounded side. “Like I said, you’re a terrible person,” says Mollymauk, “but I like to think I’m not. So shush while I try to help you _not die_ before Jester gets here with your doctor buddy—hey, Fjord, any spare bandages? I’m out of handkerchiefs.”

\--

Somewhere along the Glory Run Road, the rock cracks.

Keg startles, and turns to see the Mighty Nein emerging from a door that definitely wasn’t there before. Holy _shit_. “You guys okay?” she asks.

“We’re okay!” says Jester, waving what looks like a blank piece of paper. “And we have a map!”

“Doesn’t look like anything to me,” says Keg.

“Oh, it will,” says Fjord. “Keg? You and Nila and the kid feel like coming with us? There’s a war coming down, and we’re not planning on sticking around.”

Keg sucks on her cigarette, then throws it down onto the ground, stomps out the last embers. “I’m not a big fan of wars myself, honestly,” she says. “Count me in. Where’re you guys going?”

Molly says—something she doesn’t quite hear. She squints at him.

“Far away from here,” says Yasha.

“Like, _Menagerie Coast_ far,” Jester adds. “And then further than that.”

“I’ve never been there,” says Keg. “What’s it like?”

“It’s _beautiful_ ,” says Jester with a dreamy sigh. “And we should go there before we have to leave for good, pick up my mom.”

“We’ll put that on the list,” says Fjord.

“And pick up Kiri,” Nott adds.

“And Gustav and the rest of the circus, maybe,” says Molly.

“My cart is not going to fit all of us _and_ all our shit,” Beau complains, which—she had a cart? Keg hadn’t known that. “Oh, wait, right—Caleb?”

Caleb, who hasn’t looked up from some strange blank brick for some time, says, “Yes?”

Beau points at Keg, while staring at Caleb. “Do your thing,” she says, half-ordering.

“His _what_ ,” says Keg, just as—as the world _shifts_ , and she blinks. The blank thing in Caleb’s hands is a strange little glowing rectangle, and the blank piece of paper in Jester’s hand is a map with a detailed illustration of an island. “The fuck is going on here?” she says, stepping back. “The _fuck_ just happened?”

“You’ll want to sit down for this,” says Beau, a hand landing on Keg’s back. “It’s a long story.”

“You’ll want a drink afterwards,” Molly adds, handing her a bottle of some kind of strange red wine. “I found this off of Caleb’s old friend’s private stores. Believe me—you’re going to need it.”


End file.
